In certain situations and circumstances it is important to know if the insulation surrounding a wire or cable has deteriorated. Such deterioration could be a precursor to a failure in an important system. For example, in jet fighter aircraft, wire chaffing and the resulting deterioration of the insulation are often precursors to failure. If the chaffing continues undetected, the cable may be severed or shorted to another cable with catastrophic results depending on the purpose of the cable. If the cable is used to control the rudder or aileron, severing or shorting that cable could result in a loss of control of the aircraft and possibly a fatal crash. It would be desirable therefore to have a method and device for detecting the deterioration and failure of wire insulation. If insulation defects and deterioration are detected in a timely manner, the wire or cable could be replaced before a catastrophic failure occurs.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,478 discloses an apparatus for detecting non-uniformity in electrically insulated wires through the use of conductive gas electrodes. The electrodes consists of a tube or sleeve containing ionized air which establishes a direct current path through the defective insulation segment. In the apparatus disclosed in this patent, the cable must be placed inside the conductive gas electrode. Similarly, the cable must be placed inside the nonconducting tube containing a semi-conducting ionized gas to test the insulation in the apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,263,165. Placing the cable in a tube presents a problem when testing many installed cables which because of their location are relatively inaccessible and cannot easily be inserted in a tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,639,831 discloses a method and apparatus for producing a directable, electrically conducting gas jet and detecting the presence of anomalies therein caused by insulators, conductors or semi-conductors. This method requires that the object causing the anomaly be placed between the gas jet and the measuring electrode. This again requires that the item causing the anomaly be reasonably accessible.
It would be desirable therefore to have an insulation defect detector which was capable of being used in relatively inaccessible locations and which could easily locate and pinpoint defects in wire insulation.